In Need Of A Hero
by truch28
Summary: After he loses to Cameron in the Unova league, he takes a break from battling. Meanwhile, each of the Teams in each region are teaming up to conquer the world. Will they succeed, or will Ash stop them?


Chapter 1- Sailing Back to Sinnoh!

_The elite eight Pokemon match between Ash and Cameron had been going on for a while. Cameron had been dominating the early portion with his secret weapon Hydreigon, taking out Ash's first two Pokemon with little to no problem. After Hydreigon had been taken out, the majority of the battle had been going back and forth. Cameron had forgotten that full battles were 6 on 6 and had only brought 5 Pokemon._

_Ash had 2 Pokemon left and his Snivy was up against Cameron's Riolu. Like most of the match, the battle between the Emanation Pokemon and the Grass Snake Pokemon had been going back and forth. _

"_Snivy use Leaf Storm!" Ash called. The Grass Snake Pokemon created a twister of razor sharp leaves and the force from the wind that Snivy had created pushed the storm onto the fighting type. Riolu tried to defend himself but the barrage of sharp leaves kept cutting the small fighting type up, causing him to fall onto his back._

"_Riolu, are you okay?!" Cameron asked his Pokemon._

_The Emanation Pokemon forced himself up and once he did, he began to glow a bright white light, indicating that it was beginning to evolve. Once the bright light faded, it was no longer a Riolu, but a Lucario._

"_Unbelievable folks," Fred the Scoop began to speak over the sound system. "Riolu evolved into a Lucario right in front of our eyes!"_

_Ash and Snivy were in the most shock. He couldn't believe what was happening. "You've gotta be kidding me! I can't catch a break!" Ash thought angrily in his head. _

_Meanwhile, Cameron on the other side of the battlefield was excited and was even more confident that he was going to win with just Lucario. _

"_Use Leaf Blade!" Once Snivy heard the command, she sprinted across the battlefield with the tip of her tail a bright green and smacked it right across the newly evolved Lucario's face. _

_The attack didn't even look like it hurt him at all. "Use Force Palm!" After feeling the quick effects of the leaf blade, he quickly grabbed the Grass Snake Pokemon and placed his palm on her back and unleashed an even more powerful burst of energy from his paw, causing the green snake a lot more pain than before._

"_Wow, Lucario's force palm was more powerful than Riolu's!" Bianca exclaimed from the stands as she was sitting next to Stephan, Cilan, and Iris in the front row. She was the first one to speak, but everyone else took notice of the difference of power._

_On the battlefield, Snivy was barely able to get up. She was hurting, but Ash thought that she could keep going. "Use Vine Whip!" Two small vines came out of her and began to whip at the Aura Pokemon continuously._

"_Block it and keep a guard up!" The Steel/Fighting type put up his guard to protect himself from the barrage of vines that he had to endure. "Now grab it and use Circle Throw!" Seeing that the vines were in grabbing range, he grabbed them both perfectly and began to spin Snivy around and finally slammed it onto the ground._

"_Snivy, are you okay?!" The small grass type barely got up only relying on the remaining pure strength that she had. _

"_Let's show them your new power Lucario! Aura Sphere!"_

"_What?!"_

"_What did he say?!" Virgil exclaimed from the stands._

_The Aura Pokemon put his paws together and created a ball of pure energy that increased in size. He then hurled the attack at his target. Without being told, Snivy made an attempt to dodge, but the aura sphere was like a heat seeking missile and it hit its target._

"_Snivy no!"_

_The official didn't have to double check as he saw right away that Snivy wasn't going to continue. "Snivy's unable to battle, Lucario wins!"_

_The Pallet Town trainer returned his fainted Unova grass type starter and praised her for her hard work. To what seemed like a sure victory was now a definite struggle. All he had was Pikachu and hopefully that was all he needed._

_He called Pikachu to the battlefield to where the final match of the battle would begin. And when it begun, Ash wanted this battle to end quickly. He kept ordering attack after attack and Cameron kept on countering. _

_After a while, both Pokemon were struggling to stand. They both knew that this was the last move that would decide it all. _

"_Electro Ball!"_

"_Aura Sphere!"_

"_Pika-pika-pika-pika-pika!" The Mouse Pokemon shouted while charging an electric ball of energy at the end of his tail while Lucario was charging up another blue ball of energy in between his palms. _

"_Now!" Both trainers exclaimed, ordering their Pokemon to release their attacks._

"_Chu-pi!" _

"_RAUGH!" _

_When the two attacks were released, they met in the middle of the battlefield pushing against each other. But it didn't take long for Pikachu's Electro Ball to be completely dissipated by Lucario's Aura Sphere and once that happened, Pikachu was smacked with all that power, which sent him flying._

"_Pikachu!" The Pallet Town trainer called out, worried about his first Pokemon._

_The electric type tried to force himself up, but he collapsed for one and final time for the battle, being completely exhausted from all those battles he fought. _

"_Pikachu's unable to battle, Lucario wins! Which means Cameron is the winner of the match!" The referee of the match called out as he pointed his right hand towards Cameron side. _

_Once the brown haired trainer heard that he won, he jumped in joy and grabbed the Aura Pokemon by his arms and began to spin him around in joy. Ash on the other hand, picked up Pikachu and told him how proud he was of his efforts. Both trainers met in the middle of the battlefield and shook hands._

_The Pallet Town trainer watched the rest of the tournament with the rest of his friends. Even though he appeared fine and happy, he was actually mad that he lost to Cameron. Especially as he witnessed Cameron get utterly destroyed by Virgil and his Team Eevee. And eventually watching Virgil winning the whole league._

XXX

The only thing that Ash could think about on his walk to Nuvema Town with his two travel partners Iris and Cilan was his loss to Cameron at the Unova league. Truth was, he never really wanted to shake Cameron's hand. He just wanted to get out of the stadium because he felt so embarrassed that he lost to someone who only had 5 Pokemon.

And it didn't take long for the green haired connoisseur to tell that something was wrong with Ash as he was quiet the entire walk. "Is there something wrong Ash? You haven't said anything this whole time." Cilan asked.

"No, I'm okay Cilan." Ash replied quickly. The Pallet Town trainer really didn't wanna talk about what was going on through his mind.

"Cilan, Ash can't think. He's just a little kid who has no brain." Iris teased the Pallet Town trainer.

"Shut up Iris." As hissed as he turned himself around to see the purple haired trainer.

"Hey what was that for?!" Iris shouted angrily right back at Ash moving closer towards him.

Cilan had to move in between them to make sure that either of them would say or do something that they might regret. "Now, now you two, let's just have a nice peaceful walk to Nuvema Town. We're almost there."

"Fine." Both of them mumbled. Ash turned around and began to walk ahead of his two travel companions while Iris stayed behind to talk to Cilan.

"Pika chu." The yellow mouse sighed.

"What's Ash's problem?" Iris asked angrily, whispering in Cilan's ear so she could make sure that Ash wouldn't be able to hear.

"I don't know," The green haired connoisseur whispered back at Iris. "But we should give Ash some space and maybe he'll tell us later."

For the rest of the way to Nuvema Town, it was a very long, quiet, and awkward walk for all three of them. The tension was still as high as when Ash and Iris shouted at each other. Cilan was hoping that they could make it to Nuvema Town as soon as possible.

XXX

Once they made it to Nuvema Town, all three trainers entered Professor Juniper's lab. The Unova Professor offered to heal their Pokemon for them. They all thanked her and Ash went over to the video phone to make a call.

"Hello Ash." Professor Oak greeted the trainer with a smile as he was happy to hear from Ash.

"Hey Professor Oak." Ash returned the greeting except without a smile, but instead a serious look.

"Is there something wrong Ash?" The older man asked, concerned about Ash.

For Ash, Professor Oak was the closest thing to a father that Ash ever had growing up. So he felt very comfortable talking to the Pokemon Professor about his problems. "I'm just upset about losing the Unova league that's all."

"You shouldn't be Ash," Samuel Oak encouraged him. "You did a very good job and should be proud of yourself."

"How can you say that when I made the final four in the Sinnoh League and only making it to the elite eight in this league?" Ash unintentionally flipped out at the Professor.

"There's no reason to get mad at me," Professor Oak spoke, trying to calm the frustrated Pallet Town trainer down. "Sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose them. You can't win every single time."

XXX

Cilan and Iris both were relaxing and waiting for their Pokemon to get healed up. When they saw Ash going to the phone, Iris decided that she wanted to sneak up and find out who he was talking to and what the conversation was about.

"I'm gonna find out who Ash is on the phone with." Iris said to Cilan before sneaking away.

"I don't think that…" Before he could finish, the dragon master in training ignored Cilan and slowly crept onto Ash and his conversation.

XXX

"I'm sorry Professor," Ash sincerely apologized to the Professor. "It's just I feel like every time I take a step forward, I take two back." There was a pause as the professor was just there listening, trying to come up with a response. "I'm gonna come home now and train everyone up."

The Pokemon Professor was a little shock to hear what Ash said because he usually wouldn't let a loss get to him like this. But he didn't want to object. "Okay Ash, I'll see you when you get back here then."

After Ash finished his phone call, he walked over to the same bench that Cilan and Iris were sitting on and sat in between them. While they were waiting for Professor Juniper to come back with their Pokemon, they began to talk once again.

"Did you decide what you wanted to do yet Ash?" The green haired connoisseur asked.

"Yeah," Ash began. Even though he wanted to go home, he didn't really wanna tell his friends that. He breathed in his nose and out his mouth and then spoke again. "I'm gonna go back home."

Both were shocked to hear what he said. Was whatever was bothering him so much that he would want to go home? Something didn't seem right.

Professor Juniper walked up to the group and only heard what Ash had said. "Why do you wanna go home, Ash?" The brown haired Professor asked.

He was hoping that no one would ask him that. Now he had to make up something and he wasn't very good at doing that, especially on the spot. "I'm just feeling a little homesick is all."

"Are you sure that you're just homesick?" Iris questioned the black haired trainer. She knew that he'd never mention about being homesick, so she didn't quite believe him.

"Yep," Ash answered her. "I just wanna go home and spend some time with my mom."

"I can transfer your Pokemon to Professor Oak's lab for you and get you a plane ride." Professor Juniper offered to help.

"Thank you Professor Juniper. I really appreciate it!" Ash exclaimed, changing his mood right away.

"Not a problem."

The Pallet Town trainer went to the Professor's guest room and began to pack up to go back home. Iris still wasn't convinced that he was homesick, so while the black haired trainer was packing, she came over to talk to him.

"Hey there," Iris shyly greeted.

"Hey Iris," Ash answered nonchalantly.

"Are you sure you want to leave us? I think you should stay here and keep on traveling with us." The purple haired trainer said, trying to convince him to stay.

"Yep," Ash replied without looking at her while he continued to pack. "I just need to visit my mom for a while and then maybe I'll come back."

"If you say so Ash," Iris paused, trying to think of something else to say. "You know we're gonna miss you Ash."

"I'll miss you guys too," Ash replied.

Professor Juniper then walked into the room. "The plane's gonna leave soon."

They all walked to the Nuvema Town runway, which wasn't too far of a walk from the Professor's lab. Before Ash headed onto the plane, he turned around and thanked them for everything and said there goodbyes.

After Ash got onto the plane and took his seat, Pikachu was confused on what happened.

"Pikapi, pika Pikachu?" (Ash, why are we leaving?)

"I'm not gonna lie to you like I lied to them," Ash began. He could never figure out how Pikachu was able to tell that Ash was lying. "I wanna get stronger Pikachu."

"Pika?" (Stronger?)

"Yeah, when we lost to Cameron I was angry," Ash admitted to his best Pokemon friend. "I definitely thought that we should've beaten him. But we lost because of me."

"Pika pi Pikachu Pika?" (What do you mean you?)

"It doesn't matter," Ash muttered. "The only thing that matters is that we're gonna work harder than we've ever did and we're gonna win a league and become Pokemon Masters."

"Pika!" (Alright!)

XXX

The airplane was now landing on Cinnabar Island and from there, they would take a cruise ship to Pallet Town. It was early in the morning when they landed and the pilot had to force him up. He forced himself up and walked himself to the Pokemon Center to call Professor Oak.

"Hey Professor," Ash tiredly greeted the Pokemon Professor. "I just wanted to let you know that we're at Cinnabar Island."

"That's good to hear Ash!" Professor Oak exclaimed.

Ash chuckled at the Professor's enthusiasm. He knew that he was a morning person, but he didn't think that he was enthused in the morning. "You sure are happy this morning."

"Professor Juniper sent me your Pokemon from Unova and I've got to say, it's got me excited to not only see them, but research them as well!"

He didn't wanna drag out the conversation, so he decided to end it. "I'm glad to hear that Professor. I'll see ya in a few hours."

"Okay Ash, I'll see you!" Professor said and then hung up the phone.

The Pallet Town trainer decided not to call his mom, instead making it a surprise. He quickly got out of the center and checked to see the next time of the cruise ship. Once he found out, he and Pikachu went onto the ship.

XXX

After another long trip on the ship, they'd finally made it to Pallet Town. Both Ash and Pikachu were both very excited to be home. And they were even more excited to surprise his mom. They were both enjoying the view of their home town as the ship was pulling into the bay. Pallet Town was a small, quiet town with not a lot going on. It had a few homes, a supermarket, a few shops, the small Pallet beach, and the famous Professor Oak's lab.

Once the ship had landed, they sprinted off and ran right to his home and barged through the door. "Mom I'm home!"

His mother was in the kitchen when she heard his voice. "Ash, is that you?!" She stopped what she was doing and walked into the living room and saw her son in the living room. "Yes it is! Ash, it's so great to see you!" The older woman walked up to her son and hugged him tightly, possibly suffocating him.

"Can't… Breathe…"

"I'm sorry dear," Delia sheepishly apologized. "I just missed you so much!"

"I missed you too," Ash responded. "And I'll be staying for a while now."

"That's fantastic!" Delia squealed in joy. "I'm almost finished dinner!"

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed as he jumped into Delia's arms.

"Hey there Pikachu, I missed you too!" Delia squealed as she caught the electric mouse and began to cradle him like a new born baby.

"I'm gonna take a nap. I'm exhausted."

"Okay sweetie, I'll call you when dinner's done."

The black haired trainer walked up the stairs and entered his room. He put down his backpack, took off his hat, and slipped off his shoes and just jumped onto the bed. He didn't even bother covering himself with a blanket and he drifted off into his sleep.

During his nap, he began to have this weird feeling. He felt like something, or someone, was trying to reach out to him. He couldn't make out the whole dream, but all he understood was "The world needs you, Ash."

After his mom woke him up, he had dinner and they caught up on their adventures. After dinner, he and Pikachu decided to visit Professor Oak's lab to see all of his Pokemon. Of course, the Professor and his Pokemon were excited to see Ash.

"Welcome home Ash," Oak greeted the young trainer. "There's been something that've been meaning to ask you."

"What's that Professor?" The Pallet Town trainer asked the professor.

"What are you going to be doing while you're here in Pallet Town?"

The black haired trainer had to think for a moment. "The only thing that I really wanted to do was train up everyone." He responded unknowingly.

"So you don't plan on traveling anywhere anytime soon, I'm assuming?" Oak asked curiously.

"Not really."

"Alright then, I'll leave you to your training then." Professor Oak told him and then left as he had some research to complete.

XXX

After a long training session with his Pokemon, Ash and Pikachu walked home exhausted. In fact, he was so tired that he walked through the door and went straight upstairs to bed not even thinking of getting anything to eat.

Through the night, he began to hear the same voice that he heard last night, except more clearer. _"The world needs you, Ash."_

"_Who's there?" Ash's self-conscious asked._

"_I'm surprised that you're not able to recognize my voice." The voice spoke once again. Suddenly, a taller man wearing a blue trench coat and black hair appeared with a Lucario on his side._

"_Riley? How did you…"_

"_Because of my aura powers Ash." Riley answered simply. "You're needed by the world once again. I need you to come to Sinnoh so we can train you in your aura powers." _

"_What happens if I don't?" Ash asked._

"_Something terrible will happen." Riley answered almost immediately. "I don't know what it is, but I know it's something not good." _

"_Okay," Ash paused. He was stunned that Riley was able to contact him through his dreams. Now he began to wonder what will happen if he doesn't come to him. "When should I come?"_

"_As soon as you can," The aura guardian answered. "Go to Canalave City and then we'll go from there."_

"_Okay, you got it." _

XXX

Professor Oak was up early as always to get started on his research. It was always hard for him to get up this early, especially at his age. But once he got a cup of coffee in him, he could get so much done.

He heard the door open and suspected that it would be Tracey because of the fact that he would get to the lab at 7 in the morning. But when he walked to the door and saw who it was, he was quite surprised.

"Ash, what are you doing up this early?" Oak asked wondering why the young trainer this early in the morning.

"I need a _huge _favor from you professor!" Ash begged.

"What is it?" Oak asked.

"I need you to send my Pokemon to Professor Rowan in Sinnoh because that's where I'm going next." Ash answered.

"Why Sinnoh of all places?" Oak asked for the third time.

"I just need to go there for a while. I already told my mom and she understood. Please Professor, I need to do this." Ash pleaded once again.

"Okay Ash, I'll give him a call and let him know what's going on. Just give me a few minutes." Oak gave in, even though he didn't really know why Ash wanted to go to Sinnoh once again.

After Professor Oak called Professor Rowan to let him know what was going on, Ash bought another boat ticket to Sinnoh. He said his goodbyes to the Professor, Tracey, and his mom before he went onto the boat.

The Pallet Town trainer was staring at the deep blue ocean while the boat was traveling through Sinnoh and he was only thinking one thing.

"_Why does Riley want to train me? What's going to happen?"_

XXX

WHATS UP PEOPLE?! I'M BACK WITH A BRAND NEW STORY AND IM SO HYPE TO WRITE IT! It was one of the more popular choices between you. Like I said, I'm excited to write and I'll try to update asap. I don't have a set schedule yet, so we'll see. Like I said a while ago, I may just write the first chapter of each story to see what you guys like the most and then I'll work on that. Until next time, peace out!


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